The name "Mayberry" might have you whistling a familiar tune, recalling an iconic hometown — an American illusion full of neighborly warmth and absolute trust. But in reality, every town is full of secrets. In Kenedy, Texas, they include the whereabouts of a "cross-dresser" bearing that wistful appellation — James "Jamie" Mayberry. On April 1, 1999, the 35-year-old vanished from his home with a stranger. Local law enforcement almost immediately suggested Jamie simply wanted to leave, but his family's suspicions drew a massive search of the area that only ended with more questions. Two decades later, a KXAN investigation sparks a fresh look at the case, uncovering possible missteps by police in those early days. Our analysis of more than 5,600 missing persons also reveals shortfalls in the way Texas tackles those cases and prompts a state lawmaker's promise to improve the system, helping families looking for loved ones.

WATCH THE FIVE-PART SERIES

Chapter 1: The Visitor

Gina Littles sat alone in her Uncle Jamie's house for hours worrying. A late-night knock at the door and a stranger's voice had drawn her uncle outside and into a truck. Peering out the window into the darkness, Gina watched the headlights pull out of the driveway and fade down the street. As dawn approached, Gina's tired mind had turned to a threatening encounter at a bar the day before, when a flirtatious out-of-towner mistook her uncle for a woman. Were these two incidents dangerously connected?

Chapter 2: The Search

A little girl's kidnapping and murder nearly a decade before Jamie Mayberry went missing set the stage for the biggest outpouring of community support Kenedy had likely ever seen. The Heidi Search Center and its volunteers descended on the town for five days. For the first time ever, organizers of the now shuttered organization open their files for clues in Jamie's case. Could the rosters of search teams include the names of people who might know what happened to the missing man?

Chapter 3: The System

Families seeking answers across the country have turned to a Texas-based system containing some of the most detailed information available to the public after people disappear. The National Missing and Unidentified Persons System (NamUs) provides an online portal for citizen sleuths to help bring closure to cases like Jamie Mayberry's. Using a combination of fingerprints, DNA profiles and dental records, NamUs gathers and verifies material that can be matched with similar unsolved cases.

Chapter 4: The Answer

A state lawmaker connected to the Fort Worth university housing NamUs promises to further explore the possibility of legislation to require Texas police to report details to the system. Back in Kenedy, the new police chief explains why giving the public more information about missing persons is not always the smartest move — even in a 20-year-old cold case. Our questions prompt his agency to take a fresh look at Jamie Mayberry's file, as we discover a trio of “suspects" in the original investigation.

Chapter 5: The Puzzle

A former Kenedy police officer leads KXAN along the trails of an old cemetery where he searched two decades earlier for Jamie Mayberry with his good friend, the late police chief. He recalls an important conversation with the chief that casts doubt on how key players in the case might have been questioned back then. As police now believe an important witness might have reason to change her story, KXAN investigators track down that woman and ask her what she knows.